Once upon a time, there were 3 birds. Yes, Avians. Get your minds out of the gutter dammit. They were Ostrich, Duck and Eagle. Now these 3 are really good friends and they wanted to really excel in their lives.
And since all 3 of them believe in the power education, they decided to enroll into the world's most prestigous Bird School, at the world-class Jurong Bird Park in the fair city of Singapore.
Now there were 3 compulsary courses in BS, because they insisted that you be given a well rounded education. Swimming, Running and Flying. This (or so the prospectus reads) gives an excellent grounding for the bird in you to meet all the challenges of your life. Master air, land and sea, and really let your potential shine through!
The 3 friends are obviously really excited when they entered the school and were looking forward to "let their potential shine through". They're set up for life, provided of course they ace their modules.
First was a class in swimming. Duck excelled at it. Ostrich managed to struggle through, mostly by sheer strength of her hind legs. Eagle, now poor eagle nearly drowned in the pool. He was reprimanded and brought to the side and told that he's not trying hard enough, and that he really needs to buck up if he's to make it.
Next, was running. Ostrich tore ahead in the course. Eagle managed to bungle through, barely. But poor duck. With his feet so wonderful for swimming, he he was brought in for disciplinary action because he just can't make it on land. And after all his webbed feet are cut and bleeding for trying his best.
The last and final chapter, was flying. Eagle soared. Finally, something he's good at. Duck did pretty alright. Now ostrich, ostrich LOOKED like she was flying on land, but he's just not taking off, no matter how hard she tried. She flunked that class. Big time.
All in all, the 3 friends after 2 years in the system come to the conclusion that they really aren't all rounded students, and pretty much sucked at the majority of things that the school believed to be important. On average, each of them had a barely passing grade from school.
All 3 of them eventually were stuck in dead-end jobs that used NONE of the knowledge they gained from their all round education, and felt pretty shitty about themselves till the end of their days.
The moral of this story? You decide.
1 comment:
To add an additional point. Although Singapore seems to be giving a "all rounded education"...the students are not encouraged to learn. In other words...the students don't learn. Furthermore...I feel that Singapore education standard is low...that is to say the things they teach are basically substandard...although it might look hard...but it isn't...its just memorization. I feel that the reason why Singaporeans still don't do well even though the material is not hard is because we are not motivated to really learn...
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